Cowboys and War by Larry Fry

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MWSA Review

Cowboys and War by Larry Fry presents a verbal journey into the skies of war above North Vietnam and across the whole emotional war zone. Told with spirit and color that creates an image in the mind of the reader, the book is an easy read but an emotional one that captures the mood and feelings of that air war. 

A collection of poetry written in the voice of a fictional war pilot from the poet's own companion novel Delta Sierra, it is done well and stands alone— a worthy effort to convey the feelings of what it must have felt like for those flying missions in the Vietnam War.

Review by Bill McDonald (May 2019)

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Author's Synopsis

 Cowboys and War is a poetry collection written with the point of view and in the voice of Lieutenant Gary Bishop Deale, United States Air Force. Gary is a protagonist in the companion novel Delta Sierra, which describes his exploits as an F-105D Thunderchief pilot during the Vietnam War. The chap book also contains poems about his wife, Allison Faith Deale, who remains behind in North Carolina.

ISBN/ASIN: 9781981802456
Book Format(s): Soft cover
Review Genre: Poetry—Poetry Book
Number of Pages: 46

Descent: The Forty Days After the Crucifixion of Jesus by D.S. Lliteras

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MWSA Review

This simple story takes place during the first forty days after the crucifixion of Jesus. Jeshua and Flaccus are both on the run from Roman authorities when they take refuge with a community of Christian disciples. The two refugees, who understand that in Judea any new truth is dangerous, find the views of the disciples confusing. The believers speak of one story, but their listeners hear two different meanings. One sees a struggle for power while the other recognizes a commentary on the inherent nature of people. Christians cannot even seem to agree on the fundamental nature of Jesus. Was he a prophet, a rabbi, the Son of Man, or the Son of God?

Are their beliefs a political or a religious threat to the authorities?

Anyone who has read other works by D. S. Lliteras will recognize his riveting literary style. Descent is a thin volume. Its chapters may be long or as short as a half page, but each offers a single scene, titled by a simple phrase from the text. The sentences are short and direct: “A hungry dog growled.” “A man climbed the stairs.” “An owl hooted.” The vocabulary is simple.

But the ideas! Ah, the ideas spiral up and away, leading readers to perceive several different languages, taking them far beyond the events on the printed page.

In short, Lliteras has written a parable. He tells a fictitious story that serves as a protective shell for a moral lesson or a religious conviction. His words inspire rather than declare. They transform his listeners rather than dictating to them. He suggests an interpretation rather than demanding one. On the day of Pentecost, when tongues of fire descend upon the disciples enabling them to receive a Gift of the Spirit, the two refugees will hear two very different messages—and so will the readers of Descent.

Review by Carolyn Schriber (May 2019)

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Author's Synopsis

Descent is about Jesus' resurrection and ascension that preceded the descent of the spirit―an event that purportedly made saints of ordinary men and women. This is the historical setting and the spiritual landscape upon which two outsiders intruded: Flaccus, a Roman Legionnaire and deserter, and Jeshua, a Judean healer and rogue. Both men are wanted by the Roman Empire and both men manage to hide within a community of disciples. While they evade Rome's authority, each man responds to this evolving faith in a dramatically different way.

ISBN/ASIN: 978-1-937907-58-7
Book Format: Soft cover
Review Genre: Fiction—Literary Fiction
Number of Pages: 197

San Francisco Review of Books—“One of the many aspects of Lliteras' writing is the style in which he places words on a page. His dialogue among his characters is set in the usual novel format but each very short chapter stuns, and opens the window for the next. Moving away from his novels about war and Vietnam in particular (and if you have not read them, do!), Descent takes us into the realm of spiritual aspects of Christianity in a manner that places us wholly in the framework of the significance of the concept of the crucifixion and resurrection and ascension and descent of the Holy Spirit in a manner that is revelatory to all people. This is another work by D.S. Lliteras that provokes a stringent “YES!” from the reader. He sees the world as few are able, and shares the meaning of feeling with us. Quite simply, this is a brilliant little novel—especially for those who struggle with the concept of sainthood and how it happens.”

http://www.sanfranciscoreviewofbooks.com/2019/01/book-review-descent-forty-days-after.html

Booklist—“Fans of Lliteras's earlier novels will enjoy the fast pace of Descent and his insistence of portraying ordinary people.”

The VVA Veteran—“Descent is an exciting return to Lliteras' biblical series. In it, Danny Lliteras shows off his skills with military fiction, and the result is another fine, poetic and spiritual novel. You can feel drama and tension on every page. The military language works well to increase the tensions I felt in the pit of the stomach. I recommend this novel to fans of Lliteras’ biblical books and his military books. He has produced another winner.”

Descent by D.S. Lliteras https://vvabooks.wordpress.com/category/fiction/

D.S. Lliteras is the author of fourteen books that have received national and international acclaim. His short stories and poetry have appeared in magazines, journals, and anthologies. He was an FMF Corpsman & Combat Diver in the U.S. Marine Corps, a Diving & Salvage Officer in the U.S. Navy, and a professional Firefighter in the Norfolk (VA) Fire Department.—https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/D._S._Lliteras

Ist RECON ASSOCIATION: Descent—Sylables of Rain—Viet Man—Flames and Smoke Visible—In A Warrior's Romance

http://1streconbn.org/books.html

Additional Literary Acclaim About D.S. Lliteras:

Best Biblical Novels on Amazon—http://www.junglefind.com/historical-fiction/best-biblical-novels/

The Thieves of Golgotha

“Best Biblical Novel on Amazon.”—Jungle Find 2016

“Startling, surprisingly successful.”—Booklist

“Thought-provoking...Recommended.”—Library Journal

“A sympathetic fictional portrait.”—Publishers Weekly

“A tough, vivid, extraordinary novel.”—Christian Fiction, A Guide to the Genre

Judas the Gentile

“Best Biblical Novel on Amazon.”—Jungle Find 2016

“Top 10 Christian Novel 2000. Subtle, provocative.”—Booklist

“A true work of enduring literature.”—Wisconsin Bookwatch

“So honest and elemental it seems like the truth.”—Christian Fiction, A Guide to the Genre

Jerusalem's Rain

“Great achievement.”—Booklist

“Best Genre Fiction 2003. Outstanding biblical novel.”—Library Journal

“A new look at Peter and his anguish.”—Publishers Weekly

The Silence of John

“Outstanding. Highly recommended.”—Library Journal

“Lliteras sees in women the best humankind has to offer.”—Booklist

“Explores the loyalty and sacrifice of Jesus' female disciples”—Publishers Weekly

The Master of Secrets

“Best Genre Fiction 2007. Mesmerizing story of faith.”—Library Journal

“Lliteras again delivers an imaginary gripping story.”—Publishers Weekly

“Lliteras continues his chronicles of crucifixion...Charming tale.”—Booklist

“Beautifully written. Highly recommended.”—Church Libraries Magazine

“Lliteras answers questions his novel raises with literary skill.”—Presbyterians Today

 “Occasionally the text reads like a parable.”—CBS Retailer+Resources

Delta Sierra by Larry Fry

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MWSA Review

Larry Fry’s Delta Sierra is a riveting tale that perfectly captures the experience of the Vietnam attack pilots during one of America’s most controversial conflicts.

Gary Deale is a U.S. Air Force Academy graduate who wants to fly fighters. Realizing his dream, he is assigned to fly the F-105 Thunderchief, more commonly known as the “Thud,” and sent to Vietnam. Though designed and designated as a fighter, Thuds were used in Vietnam as attack aircraft, and soon Gary is going deep into North Vietnam to deliver bombs on target. Thud pilots paid a terrible price, with almost half of all Thuds produced being shot down in combat. Will he be able to complete a 100-mission tour?

Back home, Gary’s new bride Allison waits in anxious anticipation for his return. Every waking moment she wonders if she will see him again, or if at that moment, he is even still alive.

The author does a wonderful job of telling two stories, those of Gary and Allison. Gary’s story is told in third person, and Allison’s in first. It’s a bit unusual to switch back and forth between the two, but Fry makes it work. He masterfully weaves the two stories together, leaving the reader as much in the dark as Allison about her husband.

This is a very well done story, with gripping action, tender moments, and real human motion. Though fiction, it feels very real to the reader, and toward the end was very difficult to put down. Those looking to read about the true combat experience both in theater and on the home front will appreciate this book. 

Review by Rob Ballister (May 2019)

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Author's Synopsis

While flying his seventy-sixth combat mission over North Vietnam on 14 July 1967, Air Force pilot Gary Bishop Deale is shot down by an enemy missile. There is no confirmation from the North Vietnamese as to whether Gary has been captured or killed. His official status is listed as missing in action. Prior to this, Gary’s training at Seymour Johnson Air Force Base, North Carolina, before departing for Southeast Asia, prepares him for flying combat missions over a heavily defended area. Upon arriving in Thailand, Gary meets Major Matt Foxe, who becomes his leader. A strong friendship develops between the two men as they execute missions over Laos and North Vietnam. Devoting all of his adult life to becoming an Air Force officer and pilot, Gary wants to fly in combat. But he wonders why many missions are flown against insignificant targets such as suspect truck parks. Allison Faith Deale, his wife and a graduate student at the Marine Lab in Beaufort, North Carolina, receives confirmation of her pregnancy just before being informed that her husband has been shot down by an enemy missile. Married for only seven months, Allison is truly shocked by Gary’s disappearance. The love of her life is missing in action. Allison continues writing her thesis through the turbulence of the Tet Offensive in South Vietnam in February 1968. The birth of their son, Gary Bishop Deale, Junior, provides reassurance and hope, but there is also a dark side to her life. As the years slowly pass by, there is no confirmation that Gary has been captured or killed. Even after the Paris Peace Accord goes into effect and the Prisoners of War return from North Vietnam in 1973, Gary remains missing. After waiting four years, Allison decides to have Gary declared dead in 1977. The Air Force issues a Presumptive Finding of Death—Body Not Recovered at her request. A memorial service is conducted at Allison’s family’s farm in Maryland. She moves on with her life, finding happiness and fulfilment. It is only in 2006, twenty-nine years after Gary went missing that Allison finally discovers his fate.

ISBN/ASIN: 9781475009989
Book Format(s): Soft cover
Review Genre: Fiction—Historical Fiction
Number of Pages: 397

The Freedom Broker by K.J. Howe

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MWSA Review

The Freedom Broker is a ripping good story that injects the reader into the fast-paced intrigue of international kidnap negotiator Thea Paris and never lets up. Though not a big fan of the thriller genre, this one held me hostage from the first page.

 Paris is a compelling heroine, more than holding her own through a mind-numbing series of dangerous hostage rescue operations that eventually target her father. Her blind spot (brother Nikos) and her Achilles heel (type 1 diabetes) do little to diminish the dazzling capabilities of this tactical dynamo—heck, she slays one deadly attacker in a dark alley with a single swing of her stylish stiletto.

 The Paris family saga never runs short on thrill, suspense, action, and intrigue. Pitting Thea’s oil tycoon father against his hostage-turned-psychopath son, the tension and sometimes unnerving dynamics among Howe’s cast of well-drawn characters is captivating.

 From the jungles of Columbia to the Aegean isle of Santorini, from Quantum Security headquarters in London to the oil-rich desert outpost of Kanzi, Africa, Howe keeps an unrelenting pace, using brilliant chapter segues to build momentum throughout. This author really knows how to create tension between characters and suspense in the storyline that will keep you pinned to the edge of your seat.

 One weak link in this otherwise compelling narrative is the off-kilter sub-plot of Nikos’s early kidnapping at the age of twelve—nine months as a hostage turn him from a loving protective brother and son into a cold-blooded sociopath. Living a double life as a charitable entrepreneur under one name and notorious arms dealer under another, with a nasty habit of slashing people’s throats before they know what’s hit them, renders Nikos a less than plausible character in this reader’s opinion, yet one who savvy Thea is unwilling to see as he really is.

 Howe’s exquisite attention to detail, nuance, layered plot lines, and complex characters make for an endlessly fascinating story that never stalls out. I highly recommend The Freedom Broker as an exhilarating read and enthusiastically look forward to the sequel.

 Review by Dana Tibbetts (April 2019)

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Author's Synopsis

There are 25 elite kidnap negotiators who travel the world's hotspots to bring hostages home. Only one is a woman, and she is the best in the business. Thea Paris faces the most challenging case of her career--for a very special client. Her father.

ISBN/ASIN: 1543601286, 1681443104,
Book Format(s): Hard cover, Soft cover, Kindle, ePub/iBook, Audiobook
Review Genre: Fiction—Mystery/Thriller
Number of Pages: 377

War Animals: The Unsung Heroes of World War II by Robin Hutton

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MWSA Review

War Animals: The Unsung Heroes of World War II tells the story of American and Allied dogs, horses, mules, birds, and a cat that assisted the war effort as part of the Greatest Generation. Bestselling author Robin Hutton brings these stories to readers in an entertaining manner while interspersing historical facts important and necessary in this kind of work. This is not just another animal book; it’s a book of war hero animals’ contributions to winning World War II.

Hutton captures the animal personalities, and particularly in the cases of the dogs, shows the tremendous power of the human and animal bond. She educates readers on how countries initiated the animal recruitment and training programs, and includes quotes and research from animal organizations and war departments demonstrating a truly combined effort to use every available asset to achieve the impossible goals.

The author recognizes the sacrifices ordinary citizens made in giving up their beloved pets for duty and follows the pets through their time in service. She does a phenomenal job in painstakingly documenting the recognition these heroes earned and includes photographs of many receiving their respected Dickins Medals. The collection of photographs complimented the work tremendously and leaves a lasting impression on readers.

Extremely well-researched and documented, War Animals is an important and one-of-a-kind compilation of World War II history. The fact that it is also written like a series of movie scenes makes this work that much more enjoyable. The reader gets to know the animals, their owners, their handlers, and their fans, and their many varied exploits. The author does not gloss over the realities of war but manages to bring light and much-deserved recognition to heroic war animals and those who cared for them.

Review by Valerie Ormond (April 2019)

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Author's Synopsis

War Dogs * War Birds * War Horses & Mules * And a War ... Cat!

Millions rallied to the cause of freedom against Nazism and the menace of Imperial Japan. But did you know that some of those heroes had fur, or feathers? War animals guarded American coasts against submarine attack, dug out Londoners trapped in bomb wreckage, and carried vital messages under heavy fire on Pacific islands. They kept up morale, rushed machine gun nests, and even sacrificed themselves picking up live grenades.

This book tells the heart-warming stories of the dogs, horses, mules, pigeons—and even one cat—who did their bit for the war effort. American and British families volunteered beloved family pets and farm dogs when rationing made it difficult to feed them; President Roosevelt, bought honorary commissions in the reserves for lapdogs and other pets not suitable for military duties to “exempt” them from war service and raise money to defeat Hitler and Tojo. Many of these gallant animals are recipients of the prestigious PDSA Dickin Medal, the “Animals’ Victoria Cross.”

ISBN/ASIN: hardcover 1621576582, paperback 1621579867, kindle B07BTKYGCC, Audio 1538586020
Book Format(s): Hard cover, Kindle
Review Genre: Nonfiction—History
Number of Pages: 466

In War Animals: The Unsung Heroes of World War II you’ll meet:

• Judy, the POW dog who helped her beloved human survive brutal Japanese prison camps

• GI Joe, the pigeon who flew 20 miles in 20 minutes and stopped the planes on the tarmac from bombing a town that had been taken over by the British, saving over 100 British soldiers’ lives

• Beauty, the “digging dog” who sniffed out Londoners buried in the wreckage of the Blitz—along with pets, including one goldfish still in its bowl!

• Olga, the horse who braved shattering glass to do her duty in London bombings

• Smoky, the Yorkshire terrier who did parachute jumps, laid communications wire through a pipe so small only she could navigate it, became the first therapy dog—and starred on a weekly TV show after the War

• Simon, the war cat whose campaign against the “Mao Tse Tung” of the rat world saved food supplies and his ship’s crew

• Chips, who guarded Roosevelt and Churchill during the Casablanca Conference, and the only dog to earn a Silver Star for his heroics

These are just a handful of stories you will discover! The shining loyalty and courage of these heroes is a testimony to the enduring bond between us and the animals we love.

Space Pioneers: In Their Own Words by Loretta Hall

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MWSA Review

The monumental 607-page book symbolizes the monumental work that author Loretta Hall must have done in order to write this book. By her own admission in a note to the reader, she has had more of a developmental editor role than author, although that does not undermine by any means the importance and magnitude of what she has had to do in order to bring Space Pioneers: In Their Own Words to the public. Quite the opposite, in fact.

The stories, which follow a chronological order, are told by the space pioneers themselves, as the title promises. The author, however, introduces most of the stories, which are told in a way that can interest an average reader who would otherwise be lost with too much technical jargon. Although the chapters are topic- and subject-based, I found that each chapter can potentially stand on its own, meaning one can easily hop from chapter 3 to chapter 9 without feeling as though one has missed much. Given the 90 personal accounts contained in this book, I would imagine readers could find it easy to focus on accounts that interest them more than others. I have, for example, experienced this myself when reading a few stories to my son, who is seven years old, and loves to learn about outer space. As a result of these stories, there is now one more boy who daydreams of, one day, becoming part of a book titled Space Pioneers.

Review by Brunella Costagliola (May 2019)

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Author's Synopsis

Ninety space pioneers describe their experiences while working on space research and exploration from the 1940s through the space shuttle program. Some of these men and women were well known as astronauts or members of Mission Control for Apollo flights to the Moon, and some were minor players in the programs-people like lab technicians, weather forecasters, welders, and helicopter pilots who supported rocket tests. Their stories disclose events and behind-the-scenes details available nowhere else. They reveal the human experiences of an era that extended from the launch of this planet's first "artificial moon" to routine shuttle missions carrying people and supplies between Earth and the International Space Station. Drawn from the archives of the oral history program supported by the International Space Hall of Fame Foundation, the excerpts describe funny, frightening, and fascinating episodes. They paint the hues of human experience on the canvas of technological achievements. In this book, for the first time, extensive portions of the New Mexico Museum of Space History and International Space Hall of Fame's oral history collection are available to the general public. Supplemented with photographs and annotated for historical context, this presentation offers a unique glimpse into humanity's struggles to become a spacefaring race. That perspective forms an important foundation for the new era of commercial spaceflight and interplanetary exploration.

ISBN/ASIN: 978-1936744275
Book Format(s): Soft cover
Review Genre: Nonfiction—History
Number of Pages: 618

Red Sky by Chris Goff

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MWSA Review

Chris Goff begins Red Sky at a fast pace and doesn’t slow down until the last page is turned. A passenger plane from China goes down in Ukraine, carrying a U.S. diplomatic agent with a top-secret letter and a prisoner masquerading as someone else to their deaths. Raisa Jordan, a Diplomatic Security Service agent, is deviated from routine escort duty to retrieve the American agent’s body. Thus begins the story of a terrifying new weapon sold by a Chinese criminal gang to Russian terrorists. It is a novel of betrayal, ambushes, gunfights, and edge-of-your-seat chases. Once you get into it, you will not want to put the book down. It twists and turns with unexpected intrigue and excitement.

Along the way, Jordan picks up an American journalist and a Chinese computer whiz teenager. The kid was supposed to be on the plane, but a switch was made with his cousin at the last minute. A love-hate relationship with both men evolves as they work to infiltrate the Guangdong Triad—one of the largest criminal gangs in China—and a major steel manufacturing plant that produced the secret weapon. It continues when they return to Ukraine and then Poland where, with the help of Polish Special Forces, they track the gun and its Russian handlers, bent on using the weapon to destroy a meeting of top European leaders.

For an enjoyable read with great characters, strong research that doesn’t become tedious, location, and action, I recommend Chris Goff’s Red Sky.

Review by Joe Epley (March 2019)

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Author's Synopsis

 When People’s Republic Flight 91 crashes in northeastern Ukraine with a U.S. diplomatic agent onboard, U.S. Diplomatic Security Service Agent Raisa Jordan is sent to investigate. The agent was escorting a prisoner home from Guangzhou, China, along with sensitive documents, and it quickly becomes apparent that the plane was intentionally downed. Was it to silence the two Americans onboard? To avoid a diplomatic incident, Jordan must discover what the Americans knew that was worth killing hundreds to cover up. With Russia deeply entangled in the Ukraine and the possibility that China could be hiding reasons to bring down its own plane, tensions are high. As international relations and even more lives hang in the balance, Jordan races to stop a new Cold War. Red Sky, Chris Goff's pulse-pounding follow-up to Dark Waters, is yet another white-knuckle joyride for fans of Gayle Lynds.

ISBN/ASIN: ISBN-13: 978-1683311263 HC, ASIN: B01NCNJB8S
Book Format(s): Hard cover, Kindle
Review Genre: Fiction—Mystery/Thriller
Number of Pages: 320

Dark Waters by Chris Goff

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MWSA Review

Dark Waters by Chris Goff is an intricate thriller which keeps the reader guessing to the very end. Set in Israel and the West Bank, the action keeps us moving as Diplomatic Security Services Agent Raisa Jordan works to protect her American charges while unraveling a terrorist plot scheduled to coincide with peace talks in the region. Arrayed against her are a boss concerned mainly with his own career, a coworker who despises her, Israeli Shin Bet agents, Palestinians, ultra-conservative Jews, and terrorists bent on disrupting the region. Add a Russian spy, a traitor among the Israeli police, and the U.S. Marines and we have the makings of a read that will keep you turning pages.

Goff’s setting in Israel provides the reader with fresh vistas and colorful descriptions as the characters race from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem to Bethlehem to Tiberias and finally to the Sea of Galilee. The complex plot is woven around a wealth of information regarding the political, cultural, and religious turmoil that seems to constantly fester in the region. A strong, smart, and capable female cast add to the fun of the twisty plot and evolving relationships as Raisa finds support in unexpected places.

Review by Betsy Beard (March 2019)

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Author's Synopsis

 Raisa “Rae” Jordan, an agent for the U.S. Diplomatic Security Service, isn't in Israel for more than a day before her predecessor is killed in a Tel Aviv square. Assigned to investigate the assassination of one of her own, she must also protect Judge Ben Taylor and his teenage daughter. They may be the sniper's next target and are most certainly being threatened by a desperate cadre of terrorists with their sights set on the Secretary of State's upcoming visit. But is an attack on the Secretary of State all that they have planned or is that just the beginning? There are no protocols for this kind of a situation, and following the rules is exactly the kind of thing that could get the Taylors killed. To subvert an attack that could crush the fledgling peace in the Middle East, Jordan must trust her instincts and bring together a contentious team of agents from Israel, the U.S., and the Palestinian territories to uncover a conspiracy years in the making. With millions of lives hanging in the balance, Dark Waters, Chris Goff's explosive new thriller, is a series debut that mirrors global headlines and will have you frantically turning pages.

ISBN/ASIN: ISBN-13: 978-1629531922 HC, ISBN-13: 978-1629533728 TP, ASIN: B011IZPUTQ, ISBN-13: 978-1504644655 Audio
Book Format(s): Hard cover, Soft cover, Kindle, Audiobook
Review Genre: Fiction—Mystery/Thriller
Number of Pages: 352

The Ground You Stand Upon: Life of a Skytrooper in Vietnam by Joshua and Wilbur Bowe

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MWSA Review

The father/son energy of the co-authors works very well within the pages of this book. Joshua and Wilbur Bowe take the reader on a journey with visual words and muted emotions through a tour of duty during the war in Vietnam in 1966 and 1967. The reader can well picture what had happened there. Shared with a well written narrative, historic background notes, and commentary aided by the addition of old letters sent home from that war. The personal letters add a very human element to the retelling of that life experience. Emotionally well done! The authors hit the target! 

As a Vietnam veteran myself during the same time frame of the war, I found the book both credible and historically factual. I enjoyed it. I think there is a more broad appeal beyond just readers of war genre—a good history book told from the point of view of those who were there and well worth having on my book shelf.

Review by Bill McDonald (April 2019)

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Author's Synopsis

 Sent into the deadly Central Highlands of Vietnam, a true story of my dad and the men he served with. My father is Wilbur E. Bowe. He was living on his family’s farm when he was drafted in 1965 and assigned to Alpha Company, 5th Battalion, 7th Calvary. The 5/7th Cavalry was formed as a brand-new battalion in order to fill out the 1st Air Cavalry Division’s 3rd Brigade. The young men of the battalion were largely drafted together in 1965 as the build-up of regular Army forces in Vietnam had just begun. Together, these impossibly young men would be trained in airmobile infantry tactics and become what were known as “skytroopers”. They would then be sent deep into the Central Highlands of Vietnam, where together they would learn what “search and destroy” meant and face the reality of this new war. The story features many of the letters and photographs my dad sent home from the war zone. His dispatches were sent from some of the most remote valleys and outposts in Vietnam, written under the most austere of conditions, often scribbled in haste before another mission, or by flashlight, under a poncho in the rain. They would travel over 8,000 miles across the ocean, to be placed in a mailbox that stood across from a farmhouse, along a rural county road in Wisconsin. Many former skytroopers of Alpha Company were interviewed for this story, and their personal accounts recall much of the humor and friendship they shared, along with the sadness and tragedy that would accompany a year spent in the jungles of Vietnam. The story also draws upon the 5/7th Cavalry’s daily staff journals and situation reports for every day of the battalion’s first year in Vietnam. This is their story, told in great detail from their time spent training together at Fort Carson – through their historic journey across the ocean aboard the USNS Gaffey, where they would encounter a massive typhoon – through their many battles fought together in Vietnam – and eventually, their final patrol.

ISBN/ASIN: 978-0692141397, 978-1717994370, B07DCJNN8X, B07KFQ5W25
Book Format(s): Hard cover, Soft cover, Kindle, Audiobook
Review Genre: Nonfiction—Memoir/Biography
Number of Pages: 286

Seasons Of My Military Student: Practical Ideas for Parents and Teachers by Amanda Trimillos and Stacy Allsbrook-Huisman

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MWSA Review

Amanda Trimillos and Stacy Allsbrook-Huisman, Air Force wives and experts in the professional development of teachers working with military-connected students, described the Seasons of Transition™ approach to empower parents and teachers to help children face the challenges of military life. Their guidebook, Seasons of My Military Student: Practical Ideas for Parents and Teachers, offers a lens into the world through the military child’s eyes, making sense of what military children say and do, and provides parents and teachers pragmatic and innovative ways to help these children thrive in their ever-changing environment. Their writing breaks down complicated psychological concepts, making them easy to read and comprehend, allowing for easy implementation. The book is comprised of a unique blend of research, evidence-based practices and proven techniques, and personal accounts from parents and educators. It’s a must-have, how-to manual for new parents, caregivers or teachers of military-connected children, and a refresher course with updated, modernized ideas for seasoned parents and teachers who want to bolster their repertoire of strategies and systems to help their children and students achieve success. I think this book should be given out to all new arrivals at every military installation.

Review by Kris Patterson (April 2019)

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Author's Synopsis

 Military kids face a constant cycle of challenges, like a parent’s deployment or moving to a new home. Changing schools means more than making new friends again. New curriculum and graduation requirements, lack of history with coaches and teachers, unfamiliar classroom environments, and other changes make it hard for military kids of all ages to stay on track from grade to grade and school to school. Seasons of My Military Student: Practical Ideas for Parents and Teachers is a guidebook to help parents and educators work together to support military-connected students as they experience moves, deployments, and other challenges of military life, from kindergarten to high school graduation. Through research, professional experience, and first-hand perspectives from military families and educators, the authors of Seasons of My Military Student provide insights and strategies to support military-connected students. With these tools, parents and educators can work together to cultivate resilience and continuity for their students in any circumstance of military life. In clear, easy-to-follow steps, this book provides: Tools to help kids through transitions Guidance for parent-teacher communication Tips for keeping up with student records Activities for home and classroom

ISBN/ASIN: 978-1-934617-42-7
Book Format(s): Soft cover, Kindle
Review Genre: Nonfiction—Reference
Number of Pages: 111

WESSELHOEFT: Traded to the Enemy by Adolf Wesselhoeft and Shirley Anderson Wesselhoeft

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MWSA Review

Wesselhoeft: Traded to the Enemy by Shirley Anderson Wesselhoeft, as told to her by Adolf "Wes" Wesselhoeft, is a dramatic and gripping memoir of a German American’s journey from childhood to adulthood. During World War II, young Wes and his family were forced to live in an internment camp in Texas before being shipped back to his parents’ homeland in Germany. As an adult, Wes returned to America where he proved his allegiance to the United States by serving in the Air Force for more than two decades. This is the story of a boy turned man who refused to let the trials and tribulations of his childhood keep him from pursuing the American dream. It's an inspiration for dreamers and a narrative of a larger, untold story that should be included in modern-day history books.

Review by Kris Patterson (March 2019)

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Author's Synopsis

 Wesselhoeft is the story of an innocent six-year-old American boy who was caught up in the events of World War II. No longer playing on the beach in Chicago, going to school and reciting the Pledge of Allegiance, he and his parents were suddenly taken away to a desolate internment camp in Texas. One year later his family and many U.S. citizens like himself were traded for other Americans with our enemy Nazi Germany into an active war zone. Taken to Hamburg, he endured the heavy bombings by the Allies, followed by hunger and deprivation in post-war Germany. In spite of these events he took the first opportunity to return to America and join the Air Force. After twenty-two years of service, including two tours in Vietnam,he retired as a Lieutenant Colonel. Now legally blind from Agent Orange exposure. Wes competes in tandem bicycle races and still lets very little stop him. WESSELHOEFT tells his story of faith in God, American perseverance and love of country.

ISBN/ASIN: ISBN 13: 978-1725055919 ISBN- 10: 1725055910
Book Format(s): Soft cover
Review Genre: Nonfiction—Memoir/Biography
Number of Pages: 170

The Court-Martial of Corporal Nutting: A Memoir of the Vietnam War by John Nutting

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MWSA Review

 A profoundly moving story that vividly captures a view of American history through the reflective mind of a 19-year-old Vietnam Marine who heroically fought the tragic war. The aging author once left a small town and patriotic family to almost instantly enter a gigantic and chaotic struggle for survival. He trudges through each day of unimaginable carnage. John Nutting later returns home again -- forever altered by the graphic horrors experienced. Nutting ties in personal images of fellow Marines, the sixties culture, and family in this page-turning recollection of events that will capture the reader. Pictures effectively portray the book's content.

The author uses an easy-to-read style to describe scenes from the unfathomable to the humorous. His script helped me feel what it was like to laugh with a friend and a few minutes later be gathering his body parts up in a body bag while still under fire... or to fall in love in a foreign land and leave without closure to catch your flight back to the other side of earth. Nutting describes his experimentation with marijuana, after entering the Marines.

Back stateside, he gets caught with a joint and describes a breathtaking court martial. With it all in the rear view mirror, the author dedicates this story to his family or it might have been forgotten. The result is an incredibly well-written blend of thoughts remembered forever. His endless bloody fights in Vietnam, the confusion of this war, many dead and living friends, and his own two medevacs due to malaria and shrapnel injury are brought into colorful focus. I left impressed by the author's ability to perfectly depict a tormented but functioning mind, weary of war. I give this book my highest recommendation for ANY audience!

Review by Hodge Wood (February 2019)

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Author's Synopsis

 John Nutting is nineteen years old in 1966. Raised in small-town Idaho, to a family that could trace its military roots back to the Revolutionary War, Nutting knows he’s going to fight the war as a Marine. On the day of his high school graduation, he swears into the US Marine Corps and boards the plane to boot camp. All too soon he’s in the jungle, a greenhorn member of “F” Company, 2nd Battalion, 3rd Marine Division. Firing on an unseen enemy, burying friends killed by booby traps, and struggling with the notion that many people back home were totally opposed to the war, Nutting begins to wonder what are his odds of coming home? During a rescue mission gone wrong, a mortar round explodes beside his team, digging shrapnel deep into his leg. Aboard the surgical hospital ship, where he is sent to recover, he sees the indescribable injuries of Marines who had been captured and tortured by the North Vietnamese Army, and makes the decision to join the 3rd Marine Regimental Scout/Snipers at Camp Carroll. After the locals betray the scout/snipers assigned to help their village, resulting in the death of two of Nutting’s buddies, Nutting finds an escape to sanity in marijuana. This begins his continuous recourse to the drug that lasts throughout his tour, done only in the bunker or when away on R&R—never in the field and never on duty. Despite his proven record, when he is caught in possession of marijuana, his arrest and the ensuing court martial changed his life and his reputation forever.

ISBN/ASIN: IBSN-10:162914-424-X, IBSN-13:978-1-62914-424-5
Book Format(s): Hard cover, Kindle, Audiobook
Review Genre: Nonfiction—Memoir/Biography
Number of Pages: 186

A Distant Field: A Novel of World War I by RJ MacDonald

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MWSA Review

Living through the hell: bullets, bayonets and artillery

From the sinking of the Lusitania to the battlefield cauldron of Gallipoli, RJ MacDonald weaves an action-packed story that leaves the reader breathless. Meticulously researched, the author traces the lives of two brothers from the moment the Lusitania is struck by a torpedo in 1915 to their dramatic rescue at sea off the coast of Ireland by four teenage O’Connell friends who rowed eleven miles to help survivors to the hell of World War I.

The brothers are Scots-Americans—Stuart and Ross McReynolds—bent on getting revenge from the Germans who killed their parents, enlisting in the British Army along with the O’Connells. After a week of basic training, mostly in sharpshooting, their small unit leaves for France but the trip is interrupted by the worst rail disaster in Great Britain’s history. Hospitalized by injuries from the train wreck, they missed the boat to France, but are shipped instead to Gallipoli, a battle in faraway Turkey that is not going well for the Allies. Crammed on a small peninsula, the boys join waves of brave soldiers rushing to the jaws of murderous machine guns, the rain of deadly artillery shells, the stench of rotting corpses, and inept field commanders who send thousands to their deaths.

The author brings to life the horror of trench warfare, of devastating artillery barrages that wipe out brigades charging on open ground, of the life and death struggle of hand-to-hand combat, of the thirst and constant hunger, of the heat and flies, of seeing your friends killed and wounded without being able to help them. In vivid detail, MacDonald tells the story of a section of the Seaford Highlanders and their relationships with the Royal Scots, the Scottish Rifle Brigade, the 52th Lowland Division,  and the French, Australian, and New Zealander divisions, all suffering horrific casualties in one of the bloodiest and least successful campaigns of the First World War.

A Distant Field is not for the squeamish, but there are tender moments as Stuart and Ross meet young ladies who pine for them after they leave Scotland. The attention to detail of time and places, coupled with intimate understanding of soldiers in combat, makes me wait anxiously for its promised sequel. 

Review by Joe Epley (February 2019)

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Author's Synopsis

 "Torpedo! Starboard side!" Scots-Americans Stuart and Ross McReynolds struggle for their lives as the RMS Lusitania rapidly sinks off the Irish coast in 1915. They only survive thanks to four young Irishmen who row to their rescue. Together, with a Canadian and a young English officer, they all go on to join the Seaforth Highlanders, the remotest of all Scottish regiments in the British Army. On the way Stuart falls deeply in love with Nell, a friend of his cousin who lives in a small coastal fishing village on the east coast of Scotland. Their initial training is hurried, and they set off for France, only to become ensnared in the Quintinshill Disaster, the worst train crash in British history, which kills or wounds hundreds of Scottish soldiers. After recuperating, they receive new orders to sail for Gallipoli, where they face their baptism of fire and must learn to fight and survive under the blazing Aegean sun against Turkish soldiers, Jihad-sworn to push them back into the sea.

ISBN/ASIN: ISBN-10: 1944353208, ISBN-13: 978-1944353209, ASIN: B07J1RPSPW
Book Format(s): Soft cover, Kindle
Review Genre: Fiction—Historical Fiction
Number of Pages: 324

Daddy Left with Mr. Army: A Child's View of Military Deployment by Chandelle Walker

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MWSA Review

In her book, Daddy Left with Mr. Army: A Child’s View of Military Deployment, military spouse and author Chandelle Walker has created a powerful tool for military families. Although specifically targeted to those wearing Mr. Army’s green, the book will appeal to military families of all service branches—helping them cope with the stress of military life in general and deployment in particular.

The US military has participated in frequent and lengthy overseas deployments for decades now. The media often focus on the war-fighting aspects of these activities, but overlook the impact on our military families. These deployments cause stress for those left behind—and military children are especially vulnerable. 

The book includes short rhyming passages suitable for young children dealing with different aspects of deployment. Each facing page includes colorful and moving illustrations by Joshua Allen, which help tie together the various issues and emotions brought out as the story progresses.

The author includes a page of helpful suggestions for activities to help families—and especially children—deal with the tremendous challenges associated with having a military parent deployed. I recommend this book for military families with elementary to middle school-aged children.

Review by John Cathcart (February 2019)

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Author's Synopsis

 Living as a military child can often be challenging. Have you wondered what a military deployment is like from the eyes of these children? Have you thought about what they might be feeling, and do you question how to help them get through it? In Daddy Left with Mr. Army, author Chandelle Walker offers insight from a child's perspective to help you understand the emotions your child may be feeling as separation occurs. Based on Chandelle's personal experiences in a military family dealing with deployments, Daddy Left with Mr. Army helps both children and parents open a conversation about the time away. Through rhyme and illustrations, this picture book shares the challenges of deployment but also the joys of serving the United States in the military.

ISBN/ASIN: 1480868051
Book Format(s): Hard cover, Soft cover, Kindle
Review Genre: Children & Young Adult—Picture Book
Number of Pages: 30

Invisible Hero: Two Boys and an Exciting Tale of Honor and Valor by R. A. Sheats

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MWSA Review

 One world war and two heroes—one of whom is “invisible”—are the main ingredients of this incredibly moving and worthwhile story.

To find out who is invisible and why, you’ll have to read R. A. Sheats’s Invisible Hero. One thing is sure: the reader will be very glad they got to know childhood friends Ernest “Boots” Thomas and Jim Sledge. Invisible Hero begins with a poignant description of the upbringing and early lives of these two members of the “greatest generation.”

After covering the young boys’ early days in the small town of Monticello, Florida, almost everything changes in the aftermath of the attack on Pearl Harbor. From this point on, the action centers on Boots’s initial training and his follow-on assignment as a Marine drill instructor at Parris Island, South Carolina. Young Boots immediately takes charge and impresses both his immediate superiors and the men he’s training and preparing for combat service in the now-raging battles of the Pacific Theater.

After training several classes of new Marines, the young leader finally gets his wish and is assigned to a combat unit. Boots would get his first taste of battle during the incredibly fierce fighting on Iwo Jima in February of 1945. The author’s descriptions of battle are detailed, riveting, and moving. Although Boots is involved in the iconic raising of the American flag on top of Mount Suribachi, that episode is not the main thrust of the story. Instead, we learn of a young man’s dedication and incredible bravery in the face of a determined and lethal enemy.

Although geared to the young adult audience, all ages will appreciate this story. Only a few technical problems detracted from this memorable portrait of two American heroes.

Review by John Cathcart (February 2019)

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Author's Synopsis

 From a small-town childhood to the bloody shores of Iwo Jima and a flag-raising that would be seen around the world, follow the exciting true story of Ernest “Boots” Thomas and Jim Sledge in this action-packed adventure of bravery and self-sacrifice. "Invisible Hero" captures the thrilling and dramatic story of two boys and their lives and adventures in the Second World War. Follow Boots Thomas and his best friend Jim Sledge and experience what life was like growing up in a small town in the shadow of the Great Depression, and then see firsthand how the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor and World War Two transformed these boys’ lives forever. In this gripping tale of valor, self-sacrifice, and supreme love that lays down everything for a friend, learn the true meaning of loyalty, responsibility, and the solemn duty of honoring those who have fallen. The history of Platoon Sergeant Ernest “Boots” Thomas has inspired people of all ages for generations. His small-town childhood, the unswerving dedication he brought to every task, and his heroic desire to protect his family and home—joined with the wartime fame of raising a historic flag on the bloody sands of Iwo Jima—make the story of Boots Thomas an exciting and inspiring tale for young and old alike. As a young man who refused to glamorize his part in a justly historic battle and who bestowed all credit on his comrades instead of himself, Boots Thomas truly encapsulated the words of Solomon: “let another praise you, and not your own mouth” (Prov. 27:2). The history of his short life provides a stirring model for children of all ages. Thomas’ diligence in even the little things, his responsibility in positions of authority, and his willing acceptance of the difficult tasks laid before him are all examples from which generations of children can learn. As his company commander Captain Dave Severance said of him on Iwo Jima: “I know of no more appropriate praise than to say that [Boots Thomas] was a credit to his parents who raised him.” Alongside the history of Sergeant Thomas flows the story of Jim Sledge, Thomas’ closest friend. Raised in a little town in rural Florida, the two boys grew up together like brothers. When their paths diverged with college training and the coming of World War Two, they remained in contact through letters and visits. Boots joined the Marines and Jim enlisted in the Army Air Corps. After the war, Jim returned to Monticello alone. Boots’ death on Iwo Jima at only twenty years of age could easily have been regarded as the last tragic scene in a tragically short life, but for Jim Sledge the solemn duty of honoring the memory of his fallen friend drove him to a lifetime of preserving the history of Boots’ life and work and the lessons it provides to the rising generations. Jim’s selfless dedication of keeping alive his friend’s memory for over seven decades of life beautifully captures the truth of Solomon’s words: “there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother” (Prov. 18:24). Within "Invisible Hero" the history of Sergeant Boots Thomas and Jim Sledge (previously published under the title "Call Me No Hero") has been condensed and rewritten for a younger audience. Though the story has been greatly abridged, the facts remain the same, preserving the historicity of the book for younger readers.

ISBN/ASIN: 1720050813
Book Format(s): Soft cover
Review Genre: Children & Young Adult—Young Adult (fiction or non-fiction)
Number of Pages: 175

The Motive by Joseph Badal

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MWSA Review

 "The Motive" introduces a new character, Dr. Matthew Curtis an orthopedic surgeon with a background in special forces. His main antagonist is a wily and street smart Hawaiian who manages to keep more than one step ahead of the law.

Matt flies to Hawaii upon learning of the death of his sister, to whom he was very close. He does not believe she committed suicide as the main investigator believes. Meeting his sister's friends and colleagues takes him into various parts of the islands including an important flight to Kauai. When he realizes that his sister's best friend Renee may be in danger, he calls on former special forces comrades who come equipped to defend Matt and Renee, for whom he has a special attraction.

A complicated web of crime in this tropical paradise with some international players creates a fast-moving thriller with many twists in the story. Who can be trusted? Who is in charge? And who does that crime boss own? It's hard to put this book down, and the end leaves you wanting the next book in the series.

MWSA Review by Nancy Kauffman (February 2019)

Author's Synopsis

 The Motive is a 106,300-word thriller novel, and is the first in a 3-book series titled The Curtis Chronicles.

New Mexico physician Matthew Curtis flies to Hawaii to bury his sister, Susan—a reported suicide. Shortly after his arrival there, Matt suspects Susan was murdered. He collaborates with his sister’s best friend, Renee Drummond, in a search for the murderer and his motive. Their search uncovers a criminal conspiracy that involves Lonnie Jackson—the head of organized crime in Hawaii, Nathan Ballard—the senior partner of the law firm where Susan worked, and Dennis Callahan—the homicide detective in charge of the investigation into Susan’s death.

Matt does not want to believe Susan killed herself, but the evidence, at first, seems irrefutable. He is distressed because he believes an argument he recently had with his sister and her boyfriend might have contributed to her being depressed and committing suicide.

Matt meets Renee, who challenges him to search for the truth.

He learns from the coroner that, although Susan died in a fall, she had a lethal level of a narcotic in her system. Matt knows Susan abhorred drugs.

He meets with Dennis Callahan, the Honolulu detective in charge of his sister’s case. Callahan tries to convince him that Susan’s death was a suicide and that he should get on with his life and return to New Mexico. What Matt does not realize is Callahan is a dirty cop, on Lonnie Jackson’s payroll.

Matt learns that one of Susan’s neighbors, Muriel Goldstein, left her apartment moments after Susan’s death. He tracks here down at her daughter’s home on Kauai. She confesses to having seen Susan pushed off her balcony.

Matt’s old Army buddy, Esteban Maldonado, and two of Esteban’s friends, Richie and Angelo Caruso, who live on Oahu, ally with Matt and Renee after three men attempt to ram Matt and Renee’s car over a cliff.

Lonnie Jackson, aware that Susan Curtis, the in-house accountant for Nathan Ballard’s law firm, was suspicious about the imbalance between Ballard’s personal income and his spending, orders Dennis Callahan to murder Susan. Fearful that Susan had shared her suspicions with her friend, Renee Drummond, Jackson orders Callahan to murder Renee after the first attempt on her life fails. Callahan also fails and is severely injured in his attack on Renee. Jackson is frustrated by the two failed assassination attempts and sends heavily armed hitmen after Matt and Renee. Matt, Esteban, and the Caruso brothers repel the attack and capture one of Jackson’s men. The captured hitman incriminates Jackson.   

The police raid Jackson’s homes and businesses. They acquire evidence that Callahan injected Susan Curtis with drugs on Jackson’s orders, in order to prevent her from disclosing Nathan Ballard’s role in Jackson’s drug smuggling operation. But it wasn’t the drug injection that killed Susan. Nora Dunning, the mother of John Dunning, a young attorney at the Ballard law firm, pushed Susan to her death. John Dunning is Lonnie Jackson’s half-brother and Nora Dunning is Jackson’s mother. When the police try to arrest Nora, she leaps to her death from a cliff into the Pacific.

Jackson is about to flee the country when he hears of his mother’s death. He becomes unhinged and goes after Matt and Renee himself. He shoots and severely wounds Renee. Matt fights with Jackson, but Jackson escapes and flees to Brazil with tens of millions of dollars.

An Asian drug dealer, in retaliation for Jackson stealing a heroin shipment from him, murders Jackson’s half-brother, John Dunning.

Matt and Renee fall in love. She follows him back to New Mexico, where they marry.

The deaths of his mother and brother unhinge Jackson. He blames Matt and Renee for the deaths of his mother and brother and vows revenge against them. The second and third books in the series, Obsessed and Justice, continue the conflict between Jackson and Matt and Renee.

ISBN/ASIN: B01GQTS3LQ
Book Format(s): Soft cover, Kindle
Review Genre: Fiction—Mystery/Thriller
Number of Pages: 392

Borderline by Joseph Badal

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MWSA Review

Sometimes an author you enjoy ventures into new territory. I’ve been a fan of every Joseph Badal thriller I’ve read. Now I’m a fan of his new mystery series featuring Detectives Barbara Lassiter and Susan Martinez.

In Borderline, the two detectives tackle a murder case involving a much-despised woman and the many people who wanted her dead. Badal knows how to develop believable characters. Both Barbara and Susan have plenty of moxie when it comes to their work, but on the home front problems plague them.

Badal lets us inside the heads of his characters as he spins a complex yarn. The story takes us to Albuquerque, New Mexico, and the Bernalillo County Sheriff’s Department. Beautiful Victoria Comstock left few mourners when her killer hacked her up with a spear. Lassiter and Martinez find it difficult to nail the perpetrator when everyone they question has strong feelings about the victim and, in most cases, a stronger motive.

Politics, police work, revenge, and sex. Borderline has it all. The plot works and you never know what is coming until you turn the page. 

Review by Pat Avery (March 2019)

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Author's Synopsis

BORDERLINE is a 74,300-word mystery. The story is inspired by actual events.

Two homicide detectives, Barbara Lassiter and Susan Martinez, are assigned a case where the female victim, a narcissistic borderline personality, has made a lifetime game of destroying people’s lives. The murder case becomes more complicated as the list of possible perpetrators grows.

Barbara Lassiter, a thirty-four-year-old homicide detective, is mourning the recent death of her husband. She poorly deals with the daily harassment meted out by a male co-worker, has found refuge in alcohol, and fights weight and depression problems. Her partner, Susan Martinez, a thirty-two-year-old world-class beauty with brains, guts, and an irreverent sense of humor, has marital problems.

The detectives must put aside their personal issues to try to solve the brutal murder of the wife of one of New Mexico’s richest and most powerful men. The victim, Victoria Comstock, had a narcissistic borderline personality disorder and collected enemies like most people collect coins. The detectives find themselves enmeshed in a helix of suspects with opportunity, means, and motive—and question giving their best efforts to solve the case the more they learn about the victim’s hideous character.

Their job gets tougher when Victoria’s psychiatrist, Nathan Stein, is murdered, and videotapes turn up that show the doctor had serial sexual relationships with a large number of his female patients, including Victoria Comstock and Connie Albans, the daughter of Marge Stanley. Marge had been Victoria’s best friend until she discovered Victoria in bed with Marge’s husband. Marge divorced her husband, who subsequently committed suicide. Victoria not only destroyed Marge’s marriage and contributed to Marge’s husband’s death by suicide, but she also had interfered with Marge’s relationship with her daughter.

A private detective, Shawn Navarro, who investigated Victoria Comstock on behalf of Marge Stanley, volunteers to share information with the detectives. Barbara develops feelings for Navarro and is motivated to stop drinking alcohol and embarks on a fitness program. For the first time since her husband’s death, she has a positive outlook about her future.

Victoria Comstock’s husband pulls political strings and gets Barbara and Susan taken off his wife’s case. But the detectives disobey orders and work the case on the side, convinced they are close to identifying Victoria’s killer. When Susan’s estranged husband critically wounds her, Barbara must continue alone. She is convinced Marge Stanley, the prime suspect, is not the murderer. But the path to the killer appears to go through Marge and her daughter, Connie. Both murder victims, Victoria Comstock and Nathan Stein, had given Marge plenty of reason for her to hate them, but Barbara is sure Marge is innocent. She comes to believe that someone who loves both Marge and her daughter, Connie, is responsible for the murders. She zeroes in on Marge’s father.

But things are not as they seem. It turns out that Navarro was in a long-term relationship with Marge Stanley. He is playing Barbara in order to learn about her progress with the case and to try to steer her away from Marge, because he believes that Marge actually murdered Victoria. Navarro also believes, based on what Marge has told him, that he is Connie’s father.

Barbara, with Susan’s help from her hospital bed, proves Navarro actually murdered Stein and Marge’s mother murdered Victoria.

Susan recovers from her wounds and returns to work. Barbara, whose heart has been broken by Navarro, realizes that, in actuality, he has helped her get her life back on the right track. Barbara and Susan’s success in solving the crimes earns them promotions.

The story offers an interesting cast of characters, two heroic female detective-protagonists, a diabolical villain, plenty of suspense, and an ending that will surprise and shock the reader.

ISBN/ASIN: B00YZSAHI8
Book Format(s): Soft cover, Kindle, Audiobook
Review Genre: Fiction—Mystery/Thriller
Number of Pages: 298

I Grew Up In War Housing. . . The History Of The Defense Housing Projects In East Alton, Illinois 1941-1954 by Phillip Walkington

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MWSA Review

The vast needs of a nascent peace-time military, transformed overnight into a multi-million-man world power, provided the economic stimulus needed to propel the United States out of the Great Depression and into prosperity. Thanks to countless government contracts, millions of men who heretofore had no work were desperately needed by companies to fill jobs in factories located in towns throughout the nation. But the sudden wealth of jobs was accompanied by a dearth of housing for these workers and their families. The federal housing project that built homes for war industry is the subject of the book I Grew Up in War Housing: The History of the Defense Housing Projects in East Alton, Illinois 1941-1954 written by Philip David Walkington.

East Alton, Illinois, a suburb of St. Louis located along the banks of the Mississippi River, was one such town affected by the sudden war industry needs. Home to one of Western Cartridge Company’s factories, it suddenly found itself overflowing with workers attracted to the factory by the high-paying war industry jobs the company offered. Among the many workers hired was Emory Walkington, Philip’s father. And, like all the other out-of-town workers now in East Alton, he and his family needed a place to live. Responsibility for providing housing for him and other workers like him throughout the nation was the job of the Federal Works Agency, which did so through the Defense Housing and Community Facilities and Services Act of October 1940, popularly called the Lanham Act.

Phillip has done an extraordinary job shedding light on a forgotten, yet vital, chapter in the home-front history of World War II. His research is excellent. In addition to highly-detailed accounts and descriptions of the design and construction of the housing units and sites chosen for them, his narrative includes contemporary newspaper accounts of the social impact of war housing communities like those in East Alton on host cities and their services. He includes stories from other communities, with attention paid to white cities suddenly finding themselves with a significant influx of African-American workers.

I Grew Up in War Housing includes illustrations of housing blueprints and photographs of families and their war housing homes, along with other contemporary documents. For history buffs interested in little-known facts about World War II, and for individuals interested in housing construction and the sociological impact on communities caused by the sudden influx of large groups, I Grew Up in War Housing is a must-have book in the library.

Review by Dwight Jon Zimmerman (March 2019)

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Author's Synopsis

 During WWII, two government defense housing projects were built in East Alton, Illinois. These projects became known as the “defense area,” where author Phillip Walkington lived from birth through high school. War workers flocked to our small village seeking employment with Western Cartridge Company and though jobs were to be had, there was nowhere for the influx of workers to call home. Multiple tiers of government worked together to build the defense housing projects under the Lanham Act, which provided federal funds to defense-impacted communities where the population had soared and local facilities were overwhelmed. Only now does Walkington fully understand the unique set of conditions in which he grew up. He says, “Those conditions created an unintentional experiment in social reorganization and a broad and ongoing lesson in community identity.” Written to praise the war workers who in-migrated throughout America to support the war effort --- and for his father, who was one of those workers --- Walkington's "I Grew Up in War Housing" is a firsthand account of an exceptional place created during an unparalleled time in history.

ISBN/ASIN: ISBN: 978-1-64112-005-0
Book Format(s): Soft cover
Review Genre: Nonfiction—History
Number of Pages: 189

Hope in The Shadows of War by Thomas Paul Reilly

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MWSA Review

Author Thomas Paul Reilly has penned an interesting story in his book Hope in the Shadows of War. Reilly’s protagonist, Timothy, has arrived home from Vietnam where he suffered a severe leg injury and lost a close friend to combat. In addition to his leg injury, the memories of his last battle, during which he was injured and his good friend was killed in a chopper crash trying to rescue him, haunt his dreams almost daily. Trying to get a college degree while working two part-time jobs is hard enough, but pile on an unreliable car and a mother to care for, and Timothy’s future looks bleak. 

On the positive side, Timothy has a devoted girlfriend, a close friend whom he served with in Vietnam, and a wise old man who enters his life briefly, all trying to keep him moving in the right direction. The struggle is all too real, and the outcome in constant flux. Author Thomas Reilly has created an internal struggle of hope and despair that catches a reader’s attention and emotions. I recommend this book.

Review by Bob Doerr (February 2019)

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Author's Synopsis

 Since 1981, Tom has traveled globally sharing his content-rich message of hope. Tom literally wrote the book on Value-Added Selling. Tom has a B.A. in Psychology from St. Louis University and an M.A. in Psychology from University of Missouri in St. Louis with a special emphasis in motivation theory. He spent four years in the United States Army. Tom served with the Americal Division and 1st Aviation Brigade in Vietnam from 1969-1970. He honed his leadership skills as a Drill Sergeant. Tom is a prolific writer and researcher. He is a recipient of the Northeast Business Editors Silver Award, author of sixteen books, and editorial contributor to several magazines. Tom is an avid golfer, Harley-Davidson rider, and fountain pen collector. Tom’s writings cover a wide range of topics: patriotism, war, inspiration, humor, short stories, fiction, non-fiction, and poetry.

ISBN/ASIN: B07HDCWRNT, 1633937046, 163393702X
Book Format(s): Hard cover, Soft cover, Kindle
Review Genre: Fiction—Historical Fiction
Number of Pages: 278

Deliberate Deception by Joe Porrazzo

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MWSA Review

“Wow, I never saw that coming.” Just when I thought I was figuring things out, a plot twist hit me – not once, but over and over. Deliberate Deception is an apt title.

Joe Porrazzo knows how to draw the reader into the story and never let go until the last page. Even then, questions arise to pique one’s interest for the forthcoming third book in the Alex Porter Trilogy.

The author stirs politics, crime, greed, and love into the pot and delivers a good read. Good versus evil seems a clear concept until it becomes muddied. Porrazzo gives us an outstanding portrayal of one man’s reaction to morality, immorality, and amorality. Can the lines really blur, or is a clear-cut answer always the right one?

Can love flourish amid deception? Can the sins of the past be forgiven? Alex Porter wrestles with these questions as he races against the clock to stop an unknown killer from an unspecified crime.

The action in Deliberate Deception is non-stop, the dialogue is crisp, and the characters are realistic. It’s the kind of story that leaves the reader wondering what he would have done.

Review by Pat Avery (February 2019)

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Author's Synopsis

***** BOOK CRITIC ACCLAIM *****

“Readers looking for a thriller that grabs hold and doesn't let go will find Deliberate Deception just the ticket for a superior and satisfying blend of psychological detail and suspense.” - D. Donovan, Senior Reviewer, Midwest Book Review

“…excellent story…fast paced, action packed…adrenaline pumping and heart-pounding…”

- The International Review of Books

“Politics, terrorism, and greed together create a story that is filled with unexpected twists and turns…a fast pace and engrossing plot. Once begun, it's nearly impossible to put down.”

- D. Donovan, Senior Reviewer, Midwest Book Review

“The narrative voice is clean, making the story easy to read and follow. Excellent word choices and visual pros made for an amazing read like I was really there in the midst of the action.” - The International Review of Books

“Joe Porrazzo's attention to detail flushes out Alex's personality, motivations, and conundrums to create not just compelling action scenes, but a character who is completely realistic and likeable.” - D. Donovan, Senior Reviewer, Midwest Book Review

Description:

Following the award-winning mystery thriller, SOLEMNLY SWEAR...Alex Porter is back…and the stakes just got higher!

Things are heating up in Tucson, Arizona. A greedy corporation rigs a multi-million dollar raffle creating false hopes for ticket buyers. They're not winning, they’re dying! What comes next will shock the world!

DELIBERATE DECEPTION heralds the return of Alex Porter; retired United States Air Force OSI agent turned private investigator, in another heart-pounding Joe Porrazzo suspense thriller.

Seven months after leaving New England, Alex, still grieving the tragic deaths of his wife and daughter, gets a call from his friend Joe Prater. Prater’s old army buddy has gone missing from his home in Tucson, and Joe wants Alex to check it out.

HEADLINE NEWS: Tragedy in Tucson

While investigating, Alex gets too close to the truth and finds himself caught in the deadly crosshairs. He finds himself teamed with the very person hired to kill him as they race against the clock to prevent a mysterious group from striking in Tucson and shocking the world.

Don’t miss the nonstop action. The deception is deliberate. The results are deadly.

ISBN/ASIN: ISBN-13: 978-0578422626 ASIN: 057842262X (Kindle ebook ASIN: B07KPV4L46)
Book Format(s): Soft cover, Kindle, ePub/iBook
Review Genre: Fiction—Mystery/Thriller
Number of Pages: 408